South Dakota State (11-4, 7-2) vs. Oral Roberts (10-8, 7-3)
Mabee Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma; Saturday, 8 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: South Dakota State looks for its eighth straight win in the head-to-head series over Oral Roberts. South Dakota State has won by an average of 11 points in its last seven wins over the Golden Eagles. Oral Roberts’ last win in the series came on Jan. 12, 2017, a 94-88 win.
SQUAD LEADERS: The Jackrabbits are led by sophomores Baylor Scheierman and Noah Freidel. Scheierman is averaging 14.2 points and 9.6 rebounds while Freidel is putting up 17.1 points and 4.3 rebounds per contest. The Golden Eagles have been led by Kevin Obanor and Max Abmas, who are averaging 19.8 and 21.9 points, respectively.
DEFENSIVE IMPROVEMENTS: The Golden Eagles have given up only 72.7 points per game to Summit League opponents so far, an improvement from the 85 per game they allowed to non-conference foes.
OFFENSIVE THREAT: Scheierman has either made or assisted on 41 percent of all South Dakota State field goals over the last three games. Scheierman has accounted for 16 field goals and 18 assists in those games.
ACCOUNTING FOR ASSISTS: The Jackrabbits have recently used assists to create buckets more often than the Golden Eagles. Oral Roberts has an assist on 29 of 74 field goals (39.2 percent) across its past three outings while South Dakota State has assists on 40 of 82 field goals (48.8 percent) during its past three games.
DID YOU KNOW: The South Dakota State offense has recorded a turnover on only 15.7 percent of its possessions, which is the 24th-best rate in the nation. The Oral Roberts defense has forced opposing teams to turn the ball over on just 17.8 percent of all possessions (ranked 270th among Division I teams).
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